1,500 officers for 5,000 prisoners

The threat comes in light of the attacks against prisons officers by inmates, the manpower shortage at the prisons, and other issues affecting prisons officers.

President of the Prisons Officers Association Michael Williams, and the executive, met yesterday at the office of the Communication Workers Union in Port-of-Spain to discuss the plan of action to be taken if demands are not met.

“A course of action is definite, and the prisons may shut down because enough is enough, and we are about to go into second gear,” Williams said.

He added that the rank and file in the prisons were very concerned about their safety and they have placed the responsibility on the association of ensuring that something is done quickly.

On Monday, four prisons officers were stabbed at the Maximum Security Prison by a Nigerian prisoner awaiting deportation. The officers were treated and are now on sick leave.

The action prompted swift response from the association which is accusing the Government of refusing to provide the prisons with more manpower. There are just over 1,500 prisons officers to man more than 5,000 prisoners.

According to Williams, this is not good enough — a prison environment should have the necessary manpower. He feels that the breakdown in discipline among prisoners at the prisons was a direct result of prisoners being aware of the manpower shortage and their total disrespect for officers.

Williams feels that the Commissioner of Prisons and the Government have failed all prisons officers.

“We have sent letters, we have pleaded with the authorities and have been asking for our plight to be addressed to no avail,” said Williams yesterday. He pointed out that the time for action is now, and the authorities need to realise that prisons officers should no longer be taken for granted.

All prisons officers have been advised to exercise caution when dealing with prisoners at the respective prisons. Commissioner of Prisons John Rougier yesterday said, “all the issues the association are complaing about are being addressed, but the aasociation believes that everything must be fixed overnight.

“My executive and I are working to deal with all the issues and therefore we are taking it in stride so that the association needs to know that the service has to abide by certain rules,” he added.